From March 23-24, 2019, the sixth National Round of International Criminal Court Moot Court Competition was held in Chang Ping campus of the China University of Political Science and Law. Thirty-four teams from the University of International Business and Economics, China University of Political Science and Law, Tsinghua University, Peking University, East China University of Political Science and Law, Wuhan University, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Jilin University, Peking University School of International Law, China Foreign Affairs University, Beijing Normal University, and others participated in the moot court competition. Even though there were 10 more teams than last year, through days of memorandum preparation and a two-day competitive court debate, the team from the University of International Business and Economics School of Law (“UIBE Law Team”) stood out from the 34 teams, won the championship of the China Round and the Best Memorandum Award, and successfully advanced to the final round of the international competition in Hague, Netherlands.

(The team members and Coach Ji Ying. From left to right: Huang Yiyi, Wang Haohao, Chen Wenxiu, the teacher Ji Ying, Lu Yige, Huang Ziyun)

(The Overall Champion of the China Division)

(The Award for the Best Memorandum)

The International Criminal Court Moot Court Competition is an annual international student academic competition that simulates the substantive and procedural rules of the International Criminal Court, having far-reaching implications in the field of international law. The domestic round of competition (English) was jointly organized by the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the China University of Political Science and Law. It aims at cultivating law students to form an international vision, disseminating the concepts of international criminal law, improving students’ understanding of international criminal law, and enhancing students’ ability to debate in English. This year’s domestic competition in the National Round adopted a group match and quarter-final structure. The top 4 teams will go to the Hague in the Netherlands for the international competition. This competition invited Mr. Liu Daqun, the judge of the International Criminal Tribunal of the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), and other domestic and international law experts and scholars as judges. The judge group were mainly consisted of foreign judges with strong professionalism.

The UIBE Law school established its team in September 2019 and authorized Professor Assistant Ji Ying to be the coach. Lu Yige (the Captain) and Huang Ziyun, a postgraduate student from the 2018 international law class, and Chen Wenxiu, an undergraduate student from the class of 2016, were selected as oralists. Wang Haohao, a postgraduate student from the 2018 Civil and Commercial Law class, and Huang Yiyi, an undergraduate student from the 2017 “Foreign-Related Economic and Trade Law Talents Experimental Program”, served as researchers. The whole team was fearless of hardship, worked in unity and cooperation, and wrote memorandums with the professional spirit of excellence and perfection. The team members also worked overtime on the eve of the Spring Festival and made final improvements and revisions to the memorandums. Finally, they handed over satisfactory memorandums that won second place.

In the three group match competitions held on March 23-24, 2019, the UIBE Law Team conducted oral statements and rebuttals on behalf of the defendant’s lawyers, prosecutors, and the government’s lawyers. In the first round, Huang Ziyun performed as the defendant’s lawyer to debate against the players from the Capital University of Economics and Business and Suzhou University. In the second round, Chen Wenxiu acted as the prosecutor against the competitors from Lanzhou University and Xi’an Jiaotong University. The third round was completed by Lu Yige who performed as a government lawyer against participants from Beijing Forestry University and Central South University. In the three rounds of competitions, the UIBE Law Team all performed well, exhibited solid basic knowledge of international law, accurately interpreted relevant international law provisions, showed their outstanding ability in using English and adapting to unforeseeable situations, and displayed tacit teamwork ability. Their performance was unanimously recognized by the judges.

(The defendant’s lawyer Huang Ziyun and her partner Wang Haohao took this photo with the judges after the competition. The third one on the right side is Huang Ziyun. The second one on the right side is Wang Haohao)

(The prosecutor Chen Wenxiu and her partner Huang Yiyi took this photo with the judges after the competition. The third one on the left side is Chen Wenxiu. The second one on the left side is Huang Yiyi)

(The government’s lawyer Lu Yige and his partner Huang Yiyi took this photo with the judges after the competition. The second one on the right side is Lu Yige. The second one on the left side is Huang Yiyi)

In the end, the UIBE Law Team scored as the third highest and successfully entered the final competition. After the group match competitions, the team members summarized their lessons in time, refined the key problems, and improved their oral presentations to actively prepare for the final competition with an ambition to win the qualification for entering the international competition.

In the final competition held on March 24, 2019, Huang Ziyun undertook the serious responsibility to act as the defendant’s lawyer, with assistance from Wang Haohao, to compete against the teams from Wuhan University and China Foreign Affairs University. Huang Ziyun performed stably and calmly, showing her good psychological quality and excellent professional English and debate skills in the presentation and rebuttal process. By the judges’ strict selection, the organizer announced that the UIBE Law Team won third place in the National Round and second place for the Best Memorandum Award.

(The team members took this photo with the judges after the final round of competition. The third one on the right side is Huang Ziyun. The fourth one on the right side is Wang Haohao)

The growth and progress of the UIBE Law Team was inseparable from the law school’s attention and care for the international moot court competition. The preparation for this competition was strongly supported by Dean Shi Jingxia and Associate Dean Gong Hongliu. Professors Gong Hongliu and Chen Weidong from School of Law as well as Professors Bradley Cashio and Liu Li from the School of English gave much professional guidance to the team members in terms of writing memorandums and conducting oral debates. During the preparation for the court debate, the team received assistance from former ICC moot court members, including: Gao Shuai, Zhou Xinyue, Shi keyu, Li Yang, Cheng Shuai, Ren Yuying, and Qin Xinxin. The team also sought help from the Jessup team members: Wang Ziwen, Zhou Xiaoyu, Cai Fan, Deng Kaiqi, and Chen Dongcai. In addition, former FDI and ELSA-WTO competition member Li Mingzhe and other moot court team members assisted the UIBE Law Team greatly in summarizing problems and improving the members’ ability for them to play their role fully in the court debate.

Our school team has continued to achieve outstanding results in current moot court competitions. Winning the championship was a great result after having been in the top three (of the championship award) for three times and the fourth time (in the first place) this once since 2015. It is not only the result of the members of ICC moot court passing on the fire and forging ahead in unity for many years, but also the result of the good operation of the moot court club structure promoted by the law school. However, the final result also shows that there is still room for improvement in court debate and writing. After the competition, the members will summarize the relevant problems, overcome the shortages, and continue to train hard for international competitions. We look forward to the unyielding efforts of UIBE Law team leading to more honors in the Hague International Competition in June 2019, exhibiting UIBE’s and China’s ability in training international law talents.